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Stan Laurel
Biography Character: Various Birthday: June 16, 1890 Place of Birth: Ulverston, England Date of Death: February 23, 1965 Place of Death: Santa Monica, California First Short: Seeing The World Last Short: Wild Poses Number of Shorts: 2 History: Arthur Stanley Jefferson was the son of British actors who developed a style of comedy from watching the comedians his parents worked with. In school, he refined his comedy before his classmates, encouraged by his teachers to go into the theatre. His father surprised him at one show and soon supported him into the business. Stan worked doing both on-stage and backstage work in the Fred Karno Troupe, becoming an understudy and friend to then unknown Charlie Chaplin. When Chaplin left the troupe in the United States, they dwindled in popularity and Stan jumped into vaudeville, imitating Chaplin with Alice and Baldwin Cooke. He dropped the name "Jefferson," replacing it with "Laurel," later marrying Australian dancer-singer Mae Dahlberg. In 1926, he signed on with Hal Roach Studios. While under contract to Hal Roach, Stan started working with Oliver Hardy, the two of them developing a friendship and camaraderie that shined through the Laurel & Hardy films. Roach kept them separate contractually to better control their careers. Although Stan never directly worked with the Rascals, he encountered them almost regularly and several of them appeared in their movies. By 1940, when Roach sold the studios, the boys were tired and now dealing directly with M-G-M and Twentieth Century Fox. Where they once had full reign and creative control, they were now forced to rehash old material and routines from their old movies. During the filming of Atoll K (1951), Stan suffered an illness and could only work sporadically in half-hour spurts, dragging out production and increasing tension on the set. It was their last film, but Stan and Ollie returned working together on stage once Stan's health wholly improved. Hal Roach Jr., by now rebuilding his father's business, now wanted them to start doing feature films again, and they were both very eager to do it. Unfortunately, a stroke hit Babe and Stannie lost his partner in 1957. Despite the loss, Stan kept working and writing material, resolving never to perform again. He lived to the age of 74 before passing away in 1965. List of Shorts * Seeing The World * Wild Poses Other Projects * Nuts in May (1917) - film debut * The Lucky Dog (1921) - First encounter with Oliver Hardy * Mud and Sand (1922) * Rupert of Hee Haw (1924) - with Joseph Cobb, Jackie Condon, Mickey Daniels, Johnny M. Downs, James Finlayson, Mary Kornman, and Ernie Morrison * 45 Minutes from Hollywood (1926) - With Glenn Tryon (Features the Our Gang kids in a five second clip from the rushes for Thundering Fleas) * Hats Off (1927) * Unaccustomed as We Are (1929) * The Stolen Jools (1931) - with Matthew Beard, Norman Chaney, Dorothy DeBorba, Oliver Hardy, Allen Hoskins, Robert Hutchins, Mary Ann Jackson, and Shirley Jean Rickert * Pardon Us (1931) - with June Marlowe * On the Loose (1931) - with Thelma Todd and Zasu Pits * Pack Up Your Troubles (1932) - with Jackie Lyn Dufton * Their First Mistake (1932) * Them Thar Hills (1934) * Babes In Toyland (1934) - with Oliver Hardy, Henry Brandon, Scott Beckett, George Billings, Billy Bletcher, Thomas Bupp, Jean Darling, Johnny Downs, Marianne Edwards, Cullen Johnson, Payne Johnson, Richard Jones, Gus Leonard, Sam Lufkin, Jackie Lynn Taylor, and Jerry Tucker * Thicker Than Water (1935) * On the Wrong Trek (1936) - with Charley Chase and Rosina Lawrence * The Bohemian Girl (1936) - with Darla Jean Hood * Way Out West (1937) - with Rosina Lawrence * Pick a Star (1937) - with Rosina Lawrence * Block-Heads (1939) - with Tommy Bond * Saps at Sea (1940) - Last film for Hal Roach * Great Guns (1941) * Air Raid Wardens (1943) * The Bullfighters (1945) * Atoll K (1951) ---- Category: Our Gang Adults Category: Male Characters